Nike Was Mentioned 5 Million Times in 3 Days on Social Media & More Crazy Stats Since the Colin Kaepernick Ad

No matter who you follow on social media — sneakerheads, sports fans, activists, President Donald Trump or just your regular old friends — you’ve likely seen a lot of chatter about Colin Kaepernick‘s new Nike campaign in your feed over the past two days.

While some of the attention was predictably negative — people opposed to the former NFL quarterback’s choice to take a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racism posted videos of burning sneakers and calls to #boycottNike — most came from fans cheering the brand’s bold casting move, including famous supporters like fellow Nike athlete Serena Williams, former LA Lakers champion Kobe Bryant and “Black Panther” star Michael B. Jordan.

“Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” reads the campaign. Here are the ten most interesting statistics that have emerged in the days since it dropped:

1. There were 2.7 million mentions of Nike between midday Monday and midday Tuesday, a 1,400 percent increase over the prior day, according to social media analysis firm Talkwalker.

2. The company also said that in the first 72 hours after the ad launched, people mentioned the brand more than 5.2 million on social media.

3. While Kaepernick is a polarizing figure for the American public— 34 percent of US adults have a positive opinion of him, while 31 percent have a negative opinion–he’s less divisive among Nike fans. 46 percent of the brand’s recent customers have a favorable view of the athlete compared to 23 percent with an unfavorable view, per public opinion and data firm YouGov.

4. While only 45 percent of US customers say they like it when brands get involved in societal issues, Nike’s customers are (comparatively) all for it: 65 percent told YouGov they appreciate it when brands take a stand.

5. Close to two-thirds of the people who wear Nike footwear in the U.S. are younger than 35 years old, says Matt Powell, senior industry adviser for sports with The NPD Group Inc. As the analyst told FN earlier this week, “Gen Z and Millennials will respect Nike doing this and they are the core demographic for Nike.”

6. The brand received more than $43 million worth of media exposure in the first 24 hours after the campaign dropped, according to Apex Marketing Group. What’s more, the vast majority of it was neutral to positive coverage.

7. Wall Street still seemingly got spooked by the controversy, however: Nike’s stock dropped 3.2 percent on Tuesday, closing at $79.60. (Competitors Adidas and Puma saw their shares take similar dips, though, suggesting broader industry trends, and on Wednesday Nike’s stock rebounded slightly to $79.92.)

8. For more than a year after Kaepernick was dropped from the San Francisco 49ers roster, his jerseys remained some of the best-selling in the league. As late as August 2017 the former QB ranked 39 on the NFLPA’s official NFL merchandise top 50 list, the only player without a team to make the cut.

9. As of the time of publishing for this story, Kaepernick’s tweet of the ad has amassed 855,000 likes and 348,000 retweets.

10. President Trump’s tweet about the campaign, which condemned NFL players for taking a knee and said Nike was getting “getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts,” has thusfar amassed 81,000 likes and 19,000 retweets.

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